Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Calling all dreamers! It's the 15th of the month and that means there's a Gossamer Blue Inspiration Blog Hop happening. We're here to present you with all sorts of ideas for creating with your September kits.

I've gotten so that I already know I'm going to make a set of tags each month with the kits. This month, given all of the 'adventure / dream / wild spirit' sentiments featured in the September kits, I took that theme and ran with it. And I want to inspire YOU to not only put your GB kits to good use, but to also compel you to pursue your next adventure.

There's something romantic about being wild at heart and dreamy--not romantic in the sense of being in love, but perhaps starry-eyed or enchanted. There's nothing quite like the feeling of thinking that you can conquer the world or fly or move mountains. I felt like the September kits captured that feeling perfectly so I wanted to capture it, too.

Quaint hearts and florals from the Main Add-on, Main Add-on #2, and LP Add-on #3 kits are layered with romantic lace, doilies, and peach tulle from my own stash. Soft and pretty shades of pink and coral, moody grays, and elegant gold...the colors are about taking a wild leap and following your heart, knowing there is a chance you may fail, but throwing caution to the wind and believing in yourself for a positive outcome.

I poured over my kits when I received them last month, my mind brimming with ideas and possibilities for not only my projects, but of hopes and dreams, as well. I mean, there was even a notebook in the Bits & Pieces kit for recording said hopes and dreams (or something entirely different, of course). But it was hard not to feel motivated to accomplish something, whether it be a large something or a small something, when you're presented with such encouraging words in each kit.

Now I'm passing that motivation onto you, my friends...they may only be tags, but it's my hope that you find something in them that encourages you to take a leap or a risk. Do that thing you've been putting off; have an adventure; dream out loud.

Thanks for making this post a stop on the path to your dream...Speaking of dreamy, Sandra Dietrich is your next venture. And there are still a (very) few kits left so check out the GB store soon, before they sell out! Better yet, start a subscription if you haven't already.

Monday, September 7, 2015

Are you like me? Do you have more paint swatches and skeins of embroidery floss than you know what to do with? There's something about their deeply saturated colors that makes me covet and hoard them both. And when I started using them in my Moments Inked Memory Planner, coordinating them with Papertrey Ink's own spectrum of brilliant hues, I became more hooked than ever! If you share these tendencies, you'll want to read on and see how I've put my overgrown collection to good use.

One of my most favorite things about the MI planner is the color within the pages. The daily pages, in particular, are so pretty to look at that I almost hate to ruin them by adding my handwriting! But I've come up with a way to quickly enhance my pages, while making more room to add notes and using up my stack of paint swatches and floss.

Fellow creatives have been using paint chips for years and they come up with the best uses for them. It's really no surprise that list-makers and planners have also adopted these practices. What I've done today is nothing new and I'm not trying to claim it as my own, but I will show you a couple of ideas for using them with your MI system.

I started by utilizing the ombre cards. The reason I like them is because they're divided and I'm a person who needs to think and plan ahead a little bit when I'm looking at my day-to-day or week-to-week plans. I stamped TODAY, TOMORROW, and WISH LIST from the Listed stamp set in the different color boxes and it's enough room for me to jot down a couple of notes. On my wish list are the things I hope to accomplish if today and tomorrow's tasks are somehow miraculously completed--I'm sure you know how that goes!

I can then either just tuck the list into my planner and call it good or I can use the Basic Pages dies to cut tabbed holes in them so they can be inserted in the book. I like having the option to do both; by inserting it into the book, it doesn't become just another random flyaway piece of paper.

I also created similar lists for the month and week-at-a-glance pages. Paint swatches come in multiple layouts, shapes, and sizes so you can choose your preference. For the at-a-glance pages, I chose to use these Glidden chips from Home Depot. I used a landscape layout and cut the holes in the larger square. (Tip: In order to avoid trimming the card down to a small size when die cutting, I used the largest page die. For the other lists, which are Olympic brand from Lowe's, I used the third largest and it was nearly a perfect match! You can also use the Edged Die which will work just as well, if not better!)

For these, I used the TO DO LIST stamp, also from the Listed stamp set. The paint chips have a smooth surface so I used Stazon Jet Black ink for a solid finish that wouldn't smudge. And for writing, I used a ballpoint pen. I've tried gel pens, Sharpies, and other markers, but they don't adhere well to the surface.

After I was finished with my paint card inserts, I turned to tassel-making with my embroidery floss. Tassels, I'm sure you have noticed, are everywhere in the planning community. Because I recently spent a solid week stitching up PTI felt for my last Quick Stitch Kit projects, my floss has been sitting out on my desk in it's array of gorgeous PTI colors. I had to use it in my planner, too!

I mean, those colors...The skeins of floss were pretty enough sitting out on my desk, but this little basket of tassels is not going anywhere anytime soon. It's inspiring and so cheerful to look at...I made tassels to coordinate with 3 different months in the planner--August, September, and October--and the colors are heavenly.

I'll provide a list of the shades I used at the end of this post, but it's really easy to take your card stock or felt to the craft store and match them that way (that's what I did for the paint samples, too). These are just small tassels and I hooked them to small pink paperclips and attached them to my pages. The clips are from the Target One Spot and just happen to be a perfect color match to Hibiscus Burst! Bonus!

You don't have to worry too much about choosing colors that go well together because PTI has done that for you each month. All you need to do is find a few accessories that match--or come close to it--and with paint cards and embroidery floss, you are certain to find a wide array of saturated hues to compliment your planner.

Sunday, September 6, 2015

Hello! I'm popping in real quick tonight to let you know I'm having a big Labor Day sale in the Etsy shop right now! I've been busy over the last few weeks laboring over some fresh goods that I'll be debuting in the next couple of weeks. But first, I'd love it if you'd help me clear out some of the older stuff in there. All you have to do is use the code LABORDAY to save 30% off your entire purchase (excludes shipping). And, actually, there are even a handful of new items...

Along with these new tag sets, you'll also find washi covered clothespin sets (many of which will soon be retired), baker's twine, doilies, and, of course, gift wrap/embellishment kits. I've listed a few Halloween items, too, if you're in a spooky mood!

The coupon is good through Monday, September 7th. Thanks for looking--and don't forget that I'm happy to take custom orders, too! Drop me a line via Etsy if you'd like to chat. Thanks for looking!

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

There are some months when I get my Gossamer Blue kits and I can't stop looking through them. The ideas come easily but the threat of hoarding gets very real. September was one of those months. Now, obviously I'm pretty happy to receive all of my GB kits, but this month...oh, this month was good. You'll see.

The first project I'll share is some gift wrap that's headed out to a special friend later this week. I always use patterned paper for gift wrap when I can; I obtain so much of it that I'll never use it all just for cards and tags. This paper from Pinkfresh Studio in the Main Add-On #2, in particular, with it's large balloon image and lots of white space, was screaming at me to wrap a gift with it.

It fit well and was actually the perfect size for my 6.75" x .75" x 5.25" box. I did not trim off the border on the bottom of the paper, but it ended up being covered when I folded the top of the paper over on it. I trimmed about 3" off the left side of the paper, though.

With a bit of maneuvering, the black glitter foam word sticker, also from the Main Add-on #2 kit, fit perfectly in the white space next to the balloons. Then I added some pink and aqua puffy triangle stickers in a bow tie pattern for extra details because they reflect the tiny black ones in the paper design.

I had to make a cute little card, too, since my friend is indeed a lovely person ;) I simply trimmed down this part of the Happy Things Happy Words paper and folded it in half. A black glitter bow is the most perfect touch! I love quick and easy gift wrap, don't you? This entire project took only 10 minutes.

I also made a few other greeting cards this month. Can you tell I was feeling inspired by white space?

Bravery was big on our minds last week because Mr. Bagubian started school! He was totally fine...it was Mommy who had to put on her big girl pants and get used to it all. And I did. And we survived. (Later in the month I'll have another September project based on documenting Gus's first year of school, both from his point of view and mine. Stay tuned!)

I didn't make this card with school in mind, but I did keep it out on my desk as a reminder. (And maybe because I think it's really pretty, too.) I've been stocking up on fabric lately and now I can't get enough of it on my projects. The yellow leaves and solid aqua just happened to compliment the September kits quite nicely.

It was difficult not to create a baby-themed project, and in fact, I may have created more than one. This card was super simple, too. The bow is from the Fancy Pants button sticker set; I removed the foam dot from the back and threaded some peachy-pink thread through the holes, then adhered it to the ear of the little die cut bear. Then 3 stickers (hello, little you, wood heart) and the card was complete.

This card was kind of an afterthought...just something that came together quickly with a Life Pages card, a black glitter foam heart, and the banner sentiment, which is cut from a paper out of the Crate Paper Wonder 6x6 paper pad. I think I mentioned last month that creating comes much easier for me when I'm not trying. The three cards I shared today (minus the 'Lovely' card) were all accidental.

I'll leave you with a few sneaks of the rest of my projects, which I'll be posting here throughout September. (But if you just can't wait, you can see most of them in the GB Gallery right now, alongside the rest of the team's projects! If you're looking for inspiration, you're sure to find some there.)

But you'll have to wait until the end of the month to see what this is all about...

Be sure to check out the kits in their entirety on the GB site, too! They're going really fast! Thanks for stopping by today!